00:00Let's talk now to Radhika Desai, the Professor of Political Studies at the University of Manitoba in Canada.
00:07Professor, welcome. Good to see you. Just how significant was this summit in Brussels?
00:14Well, I think that Mark Carney certainly would like to see it as a sort of centerpiece of the manner in which he would like to essentially adapt Canada
00:24to the very, very unpredictable situation in which the Trump administration has cast it.
00:30Of course, you remember that Canada, along with Mexico, is among the closest trading partners with the United States.
00:37So they are looking to reorient their relationships towards other partners.
00:44Now, one would have thought that a logical partner towards which Mr. Carney should be reorienting Canada's relations,
00:53both trade-related, investment-related, all sorts of things, including security-related, could be China.
01:00But from the beginning, even during the campaign, Mark Carney was very clear that it was not going to be China.
01:07I think partly, well, for various reasons. And therefore, he had always named the European Union
01:12as the entity towards which he would like to reorient Canada's relations.
01:18Now, the European Union, of course, is, as a collection of countries, a bigger economy than China.
01:25But of course, China is the more dynamic.
01:27So I think that what Carney has in mind is that this reorientation that he envisages for Canada
01:35is not going to make any concession to the rise of China, to the multipolar world,
01:40but instead is going to go closer to the European Union in a move that is going to keep Canada
01:50in exactly the same mold of orientation to the world as before, as under the Biden administration,
01:57that is to say, aggressive towards Russia, hostile also towards China to a significant extent,
02:04and, you know, and allying with Europe in a move that appears to be countering the U.S.,
02:12but really may well be keeping the seat warm for either the Trump administration to change its mind,
02:19keeping the seat warm for the U.S., for either the Trump administration to change its mind,
02:24or four years down the road, a new administration to take office.
02:27So it's like a status quo orientation, or reorientation.
02:32I mean, geography was never my strong point, but Canada is geographically quite far away from Europe, isn't it?
02:37I mean, what is Canada's concern, really, in terms of defence?
02:42Well, I think at the moment, well, first of all, you're quite right.
02:46Exactly how Canada and the EU will defend one another is an open question.
02:52It's not clear what commitments have been made.
02:54And, of course, people always forget that the commitments that NATO countries have made to one another is actually very loose.
03:02It allows each individual country to judge exactly how much it's going to help another member country should it be attacked.
03:10So it's – but nevertheless, so that's a little bit further down the road.
03:14But what they have done is that essentially by signing this pact, they have given Canada and Canadian defence production companies
03:22access to a fund that is going to – the $150 billion fund, which will be – you know,
03:32which will give contracts to companies both within Europe and outside,
03:36that Canadian companies can now participate in bidding for these in order to increase – in order to improve Europe's defence preparedness.
03:45This is part of, of course, the new commitment that Europe has made to increase its defence spending,
03:50possibly up to 5% of GDP.
03:53So this is what Canadian corporations will now be able to enjoy,
03:58is access to, you know, to put in contracts for such – or bids for such contracts.
04:04Very briefly, there has been this mention of Canada joining the EU.
04:09I mean, how realistic is that?
04:11I mean, given that Mark Carney was working in the Bank of England when the UK left the EU,
04:18is Canada – and is he, do you think, keen to join the EU?
04:24I think that actually there has – you know, he has made noises to that effect.
04:28But interestingly, from what I've read, the EU officials have politely said, no, this is not on the cards.
04:36So, you know, for whatever reason, I think that, you know, quite frankly, the EU has enough trouble
04:41integrating its own member states.
04:44So exactly how they are going to include Canada and, you know, such a country that is so far away from the EU,
04:51this is a difficult proposition.
04:52But I think it's just part of Carney's very European orientation.
04:58Professor, good to see you.
04:59Thanks so much for coming on the programme.
05:00Professor Radhika Desai, Professor of Political Studies at the University of Manitoba in Canada.
